Maton MS500 Mastersound

2007/8 model.
21 medium-jumbo frets on a 24.75 scale neck. All Australian tonewoods throughout.
Same body as the MS500, but with a Rickenbacker style F hole in it.
Transluscent dark cherry finish
P90-ish single coil in the neck, humbucker in the bridge, coil tappable, 3 way 'bar' selector, generic P-Bass style chrome volume and tone knobs.
Tune-o-matic bridge.

A lot of people seemed to have jumped onto this brand expecting to instantly sound like Josh Homme, unfortunately they'll be sorely disappointed.

George Harrison had one on loan for a few months in '63 while the Country Gent was in for repair. So these things have a little more pedigree than you might first give them credit for.

No complaints about the pickups. They're not super-bright like a Strat or a Jag, nor are they dark and smooth like a Les Paul or a 335. The closest comparison I can think for the neck pickup is maybe an old Epiphone Casino or something. Both pickups are very much vintage voiced, plenty of character in there, although you do need to fight the best tones out of it - it responds quite nicely to shifts in playing dynamics - I love the gritty jazzer sound you can get with the tone rolled off on the neck pickup a touch and played with fingers. The bridge humbucker coil tap is a bit of a missed opportunity, as the output drops loads, to a very low output single coil. The bridge pickup gags for some amp dirt, but there are some lovely solidbody Gretch style clean sounds to be had too. This guitar really benefits from a nice vintage voiced amp, I use an AC30 mostly and that really works for me. QOTSA fans should really think about getting either the MS2000 or swapping the pickups out for DiMarzios or whatever. Swapping the pickups out would be a real shame though, because it can sound really cool, not a lot like a Gibbo and not a lot like a Fender. The pickups aren't at all noisy. Theres a bit of buzz there from the single coil, but it's pretty controllable.

Wasn't set up great, but then it has travelled from Australia to the UK, with all the atmospheric abnormalities that kind of journey entails. Raised the action a bit and it's a lot better. Theres a tiny bit of a buzz coming from the first 2 or 3 frets still, but nothing that can't be gently sorted in the next couple of string changes.

The pickups were in the right place, and all the hardware was as it should be. The transluscent cherry finish had carried ever so slightly onto the binding in places, but everything else on it is so well put together as to make this anomoly just that.

The f-hole is just spot on, all the materials look great. Maton have used one of those special joints (the name of which momentarily escapes me) between the the headstock and the neck, so you shouldn't be able to snap the headstock off like on, say, an SG.

It's as solid as any other guitar, if not more so. It's not a guitar that is going to wear into a Relic in just a couple of years, that's for sure and the electrics and hardware all seems roadworthy enough. Big ol' strap buttons too.

I'd never gig without a backup of some sort.

I've been playing for 11-ish years, gone through pretty much everything gear wise but have settled on a MIM Strat (w/Novaks), Godin SD, Fender Jag and this Maton as my main guitars, generally always going into a bunch of random effects before hitting an AC30 although there's a little no-name 10 watter I sometimes use if i'm feeling frisky.

This guitar obviously gives a very different palette to draw from than my other guitars, also you don't really see them in the UK that much, and i've never seen one with the f-hole before. If it were stolen i'd either get another or maybe look out for an old Casino, or maybe a vintage Gretsch - stuff that's going to hold it's value.

I love the subtle 60's vibe, the chrome pickup rings, the weirdest pickup selecter in the world, the satin finish on the neck, and the good cop/bad cop neck and bridge pickup combination. It feels pretty nice to play too, quite rewarding for small hands. There's nothing to especially hate, although if there was a way of boosting the output of the humbucker with the coil-tap activated, that'd be cool.

I'm pretty certain it's not the best guitar i'm ever going to play, but it covers a lot of ground sonically, and definitely a keeper.

Black finish which looks like a real dark purple in the sun (really eye catching) and white pickguard. Light weight guitar compared to the Les Paul I always used to play. Neck is Rosewood and is fantastic. They make these in Australia to order and I had mine shipped over to the UK. The pickups are a sort of P90 single coil in the neck and a split hum/single coil in the bridge. I would forget about using the single coil though really in the bridge but the choice is there. Cool pickup selector thing. Maybe would be nice for separate tone volume for pickups but never mind.

It suits my type of music perfect and my playing style as well. A fat tele would maybe be a good description but this has its own look and sound. I get many people in the UK asking me about the guitar actually. The neck pickup sounds really nice clean for rhythm and lead although when overdriven, it is best to stick with single notes there I think. The bridge pickup in humbucker mode is fantastic sounding. Not too fat like a Les Paul but quieter then a single coil too. The single coil mode does sound very thin and a bit weak though so not so useable. I give a 9 for the good sounds though.

The guitar plays amazing and the pickups were also fine. There were no flaws at all and you can tell that Maton take their time to build the guitars.

It has lasted a good few gigs so far and seems very well built. I would like another as backup at some point though just to have around (and they are nice to look at)

Answered the e-mail questions very quickly. Small company too. Great.

I use to thinkt he Les Paul I had was my guitar but the Maton is now it. Fantastic guitar all round and considering the price, beats most other guitars hands down.

2001 Model.

Nice, short scale neck (plays kinda like a Gibson, but better).
Very useful coil tap.
Nice wood.
Check the website for more info.

Only thing I could ask for would be another volume knob, but they make a model like that, and the lack-there-of doesn't bother me a bit.

Ok, I was looking for an SG and I was looking for a Les Paul, but neither of those guitars really "did it" for me. Too honky, too smooth, bla bla bla.

I do tour work for people and need guitars that cover the bases (not basses).

This is a UNIQUE guitar. That's something you don't see much in the "boo-teek" guitar world.

Anywhooo, this guitar has nearly every sound I need and MORE.

They say these are single coils, but don't expect twangy strat or tele single coils, these are BEEFY!

Worried it won't cut through a mix? IT CUTS IN SPADES with FAT SUSTAIN too boot.

No hum or noise issues at all (unlike a Fender).

People complain about the pick-ups and I guess I can see how (they're a little on the dark side), but I generally play bright 6L6 style amps, so it works for me.

This was used, but feels great.

The action was a bit too low for my taste (again, I need to do all styles at the drop of a dime and tend to have the action set up just between a "rawk" and a "jazz" setting).

Nice, "purrrdy" finish,

Very EVEN neck. No fret buzzzzzzz.

The previous owner did not mention if he had this set-up or not.

Very light, but SOLID!

Have done dozens of gigs now (and it's at least 4 years old), no problems, but will wait to determine the longevity.

I plan on buying a backup immediately.

Nice, thoughtful, helpful people.

Really helped determine if this guitar was for me.

This is a UNIQUE guitar. Not enough good things can be said about it, I wish there were more here in the states.

I see a lot of people in the Maton reviews trying to be JOSH HOMME, talkin about their Little Sister covers and whatnot.

Homeboy's got some great tones, but it ain't the guitar kiddo's (here's a clue, it's IN THE FINGERS!)

This guitar does some, warm jazz tones (not like an ol' Archtop, though), thick blues, crunchy "rawwk," even some funk (yah bootsy!).

GREAT alternative to yr run o' the mill Les Paul or SG (yawn, too honky anyway!).

If only I had known about these sooner, I wouldn't have blown (and thus lost in resale) so much money on LP's and SG's.

You can keep your uber-boutique Strat copy, I'll take this Maton any day of the week.

This is a FANTASTIC value which is why it get's a 10.

This is a built to order, Ebony Burst Maton MS500. 1 Volumme and 1 Tone nob, a cool as rotary pick up selector (looks like something off an old hotrod)and a coil tap switch. The pick ups are a CTapped Bridge Humbucker and a neck single coil (all though, sounds like a P90 to me)I dunno what the guitar is made out of. Rose wood finger board. Grover Deluxe tuners, the units I've seen on other 500's have been those horrible, plastic "button" ones, but these are chrome units and look fantastic. 24 1/2 neck (a 25 1/2 is available.

I'm not a guy who likes a crap load of switches/nobs on his guitar, it's more utility than quantity I go for. This layout/selection works fine for me, all though it could do with a seperate tone control for each pick up, which lowers it's marks.

Maton have never been a company who claim their guitars "do it all". The MS500 especially is a very unique sounding guitar, however for me, this was one of the selling points. The bridge humbucker is sheer rock 'n' roll/60's garage. Loud, Brash but with enough fatness and twang to make it a sexy little unit(Think Eagles Of Death Metal). The neck pick up, if you set it just right, can deliver some sweet, sweet blues tones. If you try and diff on this with distortion, it'll go to mush, single note stuff only! The coil tap setting is great, like the bucker but with a more surf-y/borderline jangly sound (great for QOTSA's "Little Sister")As I said, this guitar has a unique sound, you'll love it or hate it. Also a great amp can almost make or break it's tone, get it thorugh a nice tube amp (I like my Matamp Non-MV combo) and she'll sing for you.

The factory set up on this guitar is absolutly fantastic, nice and low with absolutly no buzz or problems the length of it's neck.Normally I have guitar sent to my tech to get the action fixed, this was totally un-nessisary with the Maton. The tuning is absolutly solid.

The finish is a thing of beauty, an Ebony Burst that can look anything from dark Ebony/Black to vibrant purple depending the light. You can see the grain through the finish and it looks absolutly fantastic.

The neck is brilliant, the fret work is spot on (better than most Gibsons)it's an absolute joy to play, something (I suspect) will only get better with age. Becuase it's a smaller neck chords/jazz chords roll of your fingers. I can honestly say, I've played Gibson Les Paul Customs who's necks aren't near as nice as this. All in All, fantastic. The whole guitar it's self feels and plays solidly.

I can honestly say this is one of the most solidly built guitars I've had pass through my hands (and belive you me, it's a long, long list) The only problem I've had is the out put jack coming loose (the screw on the out side, it still works fine) I had an issue with the bridge pick up high (it had a tendancy to spring up) but after screwing it down a bit, this problem went away.

Maton is still a small company and their attention to deal, and sheer build quality is strikingly evident.

First I have to say, the strap buttons on this thing are the single BEST units, I've ever seen on a guitar (short of strap locks) this may not seem like a big deal, but when you have a flying V come off the strap and unserimoniously remove a machine head, you'll get it.

The finish is a high gloss and totally solid, which is a little bit of the problem, I want this baby to age! It'll withstand bump and scrapes with the best of them.

I've never had this guitar stop working on me, she's solid, a total workhorse. I'd use her live and I'd use her without a back up.

I've talked to Hailey a couple of times and she's always friendly and helpful. They're a company who still give 2 about their customers and make a real effort. If I remeber correctly it's a life time warranty but she feels that solid, I can't see her breaking down on me in the near (or distant) future. They are pretty rapid with their responces (normally with in a day) I really respect this (Gibson, in my experience, don't even bother to answer E-mails). Maton are a pleasure to deal with, there's no simpler way to put it.

I like my gear simple and well built but with character, The Maton delivers amply on all 3 fronts. I'm having a total gear over haul at the moment, my current (additional) gear is a Gibson Flying V and a non-master volume, custom Matamp. I tryed a bunch of stuff before setelling on the Maton (Les Pauls/SG's/Tele's/Strat's) but the Maton has THE sound.

If she was lost or stolen I'd bust heads till I got her back, I would certainly buy another, and am looking into buying more Matons. I'd like to add, Maton's are an undiscovered gems on these shores, and I like it that way. They still build guitars to the higest quality. The MS500 feels like a guitar twice it's price, but it has a subversive sound, if you don't like the sound, simply, don't buy one!

I bought this in 1998/99 I think. I remember walking into Eastgate Music in Balwayn and hearing the salesperson getting all excited about the first batch of MS500s they just got in, and I bought one a few minutes later. The neck is a 24.5" scale maple affair, and the body is probably maple (although according to the Maton website, it could be silkwood or bunya). It has a lovely satin tobacco sunburst finish which I fell in love with instantly.

Has a volume and tone knob, a rotary 3-way pickup selector and a coil-split switch for the bridge numbucker. The rotary pickup selector is the best thing ever. Not all players agree that it looks the best (I personally think it rocks!) but I'm sure that many have had their Gibson/Fender pickup selectors break/die on them because of the way they stick out from the body. My Epiphone Les Paul selector died on me early, and so did my friend's Gibson Les Paul. My Maton selector, on the other hand, has NEVER died on me in the 6-7 years I've owned it.

Pickups are basic Maton chrome-covered. P90 style single coil in the neck and humbucker in the bridge. They're not the best (see details below). Bridge is a chrome stop tailpiece. Simple and functional. Tuners are Grovers with Kluson-style heads, but I had to swap the inital ones out which were rattling. However, they hold their tune extremely well. Once I install new strings, tune them up and stretch them, I rarely go out of tune.

Fretwork past the 14th fret is a little sub-standard. It's not out of tune, but some notes don't ring out fully and the sustain suffers a little.

A very well-rounded, and well thought out set of features. I'm usually the lead vocalist in my band and don't like to muck around with my guitar while on stage if I can help it. When I need to, the controls are all in the right place. Extra point for the pickup selector and coil split, but lose one point for the poor quality pickups, and one point for the under-average fretwork past the 14th fret.

I play a wide variety of styles - mostly rock and ballads, sometimes jazz and blues. I've played the guitar through a Marshall VS65 (solid state 1x12 combo) and a Fender Blues Jr Tweed ed (1x12 valve combo), and use a Boss GT6 for effects.

First off, the pickups are not the best. The biggest gripe I have about them is the lack of clarity and articulation, especially when using overdrive/distortion with chords. The bridge humbucker is thin and weak (more so when coil split). The neck pickup is ok - very warm - in fact rolling off the tone and running a clean amp, it was actually perfect for jazz - very smoky, mellow tone! I played most of the time with both pickup selectors which balanced out the cons of both pickups. Overall the sound is usable - I learned to live with it for a few years, but recently I decided that I'd do something about the pickups and swapped them out for Seymour Duncans - Pearly Gates in the neck and a JB in the bridge. The guitar now totally rocks! The pickups bring out the guitar's true character - a tonally well balanced guitar with lots of sustain. I simply can't put it down!

The guitar has always been very quiet. Never had a problem with noise, even with the stock pickups.

As before, this guitar is perfect for jazz with the stock neck pickup. The bridge humbucker is terrible - too thin and nasally sounding for my liking. Both pickups in combo provide a useful sound though, which saw me through for a few years of gigging. Shelling out an extra few hundred bucks for after market pickups is the best investment you can make to this under-rated guitar, as it allows this well-made, affordable instrument to really show its true qualities: a half-way house between a Les Paul and a Strat - nice warm tone but brighter than a Paul, with lots of sustain.

Factory set up was perfect for me. In fact, I have not changed it at all!

One of the tuning machines developed a slight rattle whenever I played the D string, so I changed them all out myself. I love the jade-green Kluson heads though - it compliments the guitar with it's vintage feel perfectly!

Maton used a bucketload of screws to hold the plastic scratchplate in place, as well as the pickup rings. When things get a little sweaty resulting in rusty screws, it can look a little tacky.

I've gigged live with the MS500 regularly - at least once a week for the last 6-7 years, and it has never failed me. It fell from a guitar stand a few times and still stayed in tune. It's a solid workhorse guitar that really shines if you swap out the pickups. Hardware is sturdy - especially the pickup selector. The satin finish is no more/less durable than similar finishes on other guitars. Strap buttons are very solid (although I don't jump and swing my guitar around excessively).

I can depend on it, and I have gigged with it for years without a backup (more by economic necessity than by choice).

Looking back now, this guitar actually got better with age...

Emailed Maton customer service a couple times to inquire about parts and servicing and I got a prompt and friendly response with the right answers.

I'm glad I bought this baby. For the money I paid (even including the cost of upgrading the pickups), I reckon I came out on top with this one. The guitar looks great, it's extremely reliable and very well made and while it's let down by poor pickups, it's not a huge budgetary stretch to replace them (and let's face it, most tone hounds will replace their pickups anyway, even if they were perfectly functional to start with).

If I compared the tone I got from the MS500 to say a Les Paul Std, I'd be hard pressed to say which one I liked more, and the Les Paul costs around 3-4 times more! Granted it looks 3-4 times better and the build quality is better, but does it justify an extra $3,000?

made in australia yr 2000 21 medium size frets solid body guitar queensland maple or bunya nut wood for the body and a maple neck with rosewood fretboard its a bolt on neck.
has humbucker at the bridge and single coil at the neck they are a p- 90 style pickup with the bridge h/b with a coil tap switch , 3 way selector switch kinda retro style i like that !!
this one is finished in a black gloss with chrome hardware looks mean it has tune-o-matic bridge and stoptail end.tuners have been replaced with gotoh crown head style tuners quick ratio but stable...

the maton has a very bassy sound so much bottom end so for clean i dont tend to favour it .but distortion it revs up kinda verging on a les paul sound .the pickups are muddy they do lack clarity im tempted to change them but i cant put in a humbucker that easily maybe a di marzio p-90 would be good to save hassles.one thing maton have done well is create a great tone in this guitar it really does ooze tone .there is good variety in sound from the bridge to neck pickup sustain is good harmonics are there ,im using a 70's valve amp with a digitech rp2000 effects unit so i let it do the talking .it is good for hard and heavy rock its all there...

action was sweet the neck was adjusted and set angled so its super low and really comfortble to play .its a flat top guitar no contours so its ok to play not very heavy but got even weight . its shaped like les paul but with a kinda double cutaway of a tele. its groovey!!!!i think they are a remake of the maton from the 60's the neck has a medium width but its a thin neck suits my playing very well.i have broken the odd string but thats more because of my playin not really a flaw its very well made i think solid as a rock and the neck is tight and immovable it could take a bomb and still be ok in my opinion

this guitar has been my jam guitar and it serves its purpose very well i think it will be a long runner i might not treat it as well as my other guitars but im sure it will be dependable .the finish will be fine but i have already put a few bumps and bruises on it i dont care for it so it will have that played look lol....
the strap buttons on this are excellent take note other guitar manufacturers , large and dont move even the sloppiest of straps stay on them.i would always bring it for backup i know its there

havent dealt with them......

ive been on and off for 12 years playing but decided to get back into it. my friend was raving about getting one , but never did i saw it advertised so went to check it out liked it so got it!!! i would say the pickups are the worst of it the original tuners may not be great either . but otherwise its solid and its aussie made i will keep this one or maybe if i find a firebird or explorer part ways with it but have fond memories of the maton....

My Mstersound was made in Aust in 1993.
Its got 21 frets, solid-top, volume and tone controls/ 3 way pickup selector, bridge pickup swith.
Twin humbuckers, Vintage style tuners(which don't look the best but it works fine and thats the way its gonna stay), Thin neck, Black with white pickguard(also doesn't look the best, but will change in the future.

I am a rhythm guitarist using a Mesa Boogie V-Twin and it sounds fine, i would much rather play this than a strat, not noisy, pickup selector goes from Hi-Fi (high notes) to Cool ( Low notes)and works really well. Like the difference that the guitar makes going from Bridge to Neck pickup.

Guitar wasn't set-up because it was old. I set-up intonation and action. Pickups ajusted fine. Did have loose pickup selector(once again old guitar).

Great for live playing. Dependable, definately solid strap buttons, lasting finish.

N/A

I've only been playing guitar for 4 years, more a drummer than a guitarist.And rather playing accoustic than electric(personal favourite). Probably try something different if it was stolen, but still hope it doesn't get stolen. Like the retro feel about it, feels better than alot of guitars i've played.

Just an update after I installed new pickups.
Sounds bloody brilliant now - can't stress the difference enough.
Below is how I did it...

Just updating my review directly below - I've just finished changing the stock maton pups out of my MS500 and the difference is SOOO good! Got one of those SD 59s in the neck and an Invader in the bridge (ther invader was not my 1st choice but I had one kickin round and couldn't be stuffed waiting for the shop to get a JB in - also the Invader DOES smoke). This was convenient because I was able to make the bridge invader splittable to single coil (just like stock) without adding switches/knobs to the guitar (ie just used the components already installed). Also, a word on my pickup replacing experiences -
I was concerned that I would not be able to use the stock MS pickguard for dropping in standard-sized humbuckers. Unfortunately Maton want about $120 bucks or more (from memory) for a replacement. It turns out that to do the pickup mod all you need is - 2 pickup surrounds with 4 screws each (I pinched them off an Ibanez of mine that was no longer being used but I'm pretty sure you can buy them at a good music shop). And a drill with a 3/16 or 4/16 inch bit. What you need to do is...
1) Loosen the strings till they're slack but not "off"
2) Unscrew the neck with an allen key (forget the size - smaller than u think!)
3) With the neck off, pop the tune-o-matic "tail piece" off and thus remove the neck with the strings still "attatched" to it.
4) Pull off the tune-o-matic "bridge" (should just slide off).
5) Unscrew the pickguard. Keep the screws in a safe place.
6) Draw a diagram of the wiring inside for future reference. Cover the body with an old tshirt/rag to avoid solder splatters/scratches.
7) If you're replacing both pups, unsolder the wire connected to the underside of both the chrome covers or just the one you're replacing(this is just a ground drain - keep it for relevant grounds). Note these wires are bitches and are the strongest solder in the guitar so be patient and use a good hot iron. Pull the wires off with gripping pliers once you've melted the solder as they'll be so hot you can't touch them.
8) Unsolder the pickup wires of the relevant pickup(s) where they join the volume pot/tone control/coil split etc.
9) Unscrew the chrome pickup casing and remove the pickup in its case in one hit.
Now you have a guitar with vol/tone/selector/split controls but no pickups. Also the guitar at this point is not suited to accepting new pickups because the scratchplate's holes are skinnier and wider than standard pickups. Here's where your drill comes in handy...
1) Carefully place your aftermarket pickup surrounds over the hole in the pickguard from on top of the guitar (in my case they're the black plastic pickup surrounds off an Ibanez AX120). You should notice that the surround completely covers the edge of the Maton's gaping scratchplate - convenient!
2) When positioned correctly, score with a pencil/sharp pin the location of the holes on the pickup surround where you will pre-drill for screws to hold it in place. With a correct pickup surround, you should be able to find drill points over the meat of the pickguard at all four corners of the surround (ie, you do not drill the "air").
3) Note with glee that any drilling you do now on the pickguard is completely reversable because the ORIGINAL chrome pickup covers would normally overhang and cover the areas you are about to drill!
4) Drill away with a 3/16 inch bit. You will find that this size works perfectly with the small silver screws of the ORIGINAL Maton pickup casing so if you have no screws around just use them! (slightly larger hole required for bigger screws - be careful too big too late!).
5) Drill the holes and screw in your new pickup surround.
6) Note with glee that the remaining two holes in the CENTER of each top and botton edge of your new pickup surround (where the humbucker is mounted) actually OVERHANG the Maton's scratchplate - thus creating the "mass" we require over previously hollowed out scr

As above, a really well made guitar. Do the pickup mods and you'll realize its full potential. 10/10 after the upgrade - about as close as a bolt neck will come to SG/Les Paul territory (ie WAY closer than stock). The main point of this mod is so the guitar will actually accommodate standard sized humbuckers. Then it's just up to you which ones you want!

Aussie guitar, translucent wine red, 21 frets, 3 way pickup selector between splittable humbucker in the bridge and a p90(?) in the neck. At the moment the guitar is totally stock.

Acoustically, this instrument is quite nice. This is probably a lot to do with how well made it is. Feels solid and classy for the price. The short scale of the neck is not my favourite length tho (more of a fender guy). However, when plugged in, there's no diguising those god awful pickups. Yeah they're chrome and they look cool but all the aesthetics in the world can't pull this tone out of the gutter. Such a pitty because - in theory - this guitar would sound awesome. About the only style you could kid yourself into thinking is passable is jazz but for rock/fenderish/metal etc etc there's no way this guitar can hold its own. I play through a Mesa Nomad or Framus Cobra into a Mesa Recto cab 4x12 v-30s for heavy stuff. For clean there's a Non master Volume SF Fender Super w/4x10" Weber California speakers. I use EHX effects but prefer to go straight into the amp cold turkey. As I said above about the only passable tone these pickups can spit out is woody jazz on the neck or neck/split bridge combination. Forget about searing distortion and screaming harmonics. This guitar is in desperate need of pickup replacements - made difficult by the fact that the pickups are wider and skinnier than normal. I plan to replace both pups very soon to rectify what would otherwise be a smoking guitar.

I really would be hard pressed to fault the action fit and finish. The action is gold - the guitar is a dream to play. Everything is constructed well and the simplistic design (no ornate binding/additional inlays) means that there's really little that can go wrong. The neck is nicely set and intonates well. I have not experienced any problems with the vintage style tuner's ability to remain in pitch but I can see that they're not the strongest looking things in the world so a grover upgrade may well be the ticket. Wine red finish is just beautiful - allows the wood grain to show right through. Headstock join is odd but effective - I think Maton may have changed this by now though.

I've used this guitar many a time live. Funny story - in the middle of tool's "stinkfist" one night my bassist decides to swing his bass around his body using his strap and a fair dollop of centripedal force to keep it's orbit on track. 3 quaters of the way around I cop one of those huge vintage-style fender bass machine heads to the noggin. With blood streming down my face and barely concious after the impact I remember leaning forward so as the blood would not drip onto the guitar and thanking god that the clown didn't catch the neck of the Maton on the way through. Yeah she's survived a bit. On a BAD point though - one night I'm playing away am suddenly aware of an awful tone coming from my guitar. Initially I thought I'd blown a speaker and fried my amp. But the problem was actually much closer to home - the top screw holding the bridge pickup in had unthreaded and because the pickups are counter-tensioned by springs, the damn thing was effectively muting my strings. This rightly pissed me off. Not only were the pickups bad enough in themselves but then they start physically sabotaging my efforts!

I emailed Maton re replacing pickups and they responded promptly. Keep it up guys!

Overall this is a REALLY well made guitar that looks awesome and sounds good UNTIL you plug it into an amp. This instrument is certainly capable of a lot more than Maton are content to send it away from the factory to achieve. If it weren't for the craftsmanship, I would have sold this guitar but because the damn thing is so well made, I've decided to keep it and with a couple (err a few) hundred bucks replace the pickups/tuners/bridge to make it into the guitar it should have been all along. Overall a 5 before the changes...watch this space for a rating afterwards!

This guitar was probably the coolest guitar made in 2004. It's an Aussie and it rock's. It has 21 frets (not good for mettalica eh!). its a solid top beauty. Make you go wow. The controls are simple but cooooool! An oversized p/u selector rules the guitar it kinda resembles something rude. it has coil tap in the bridge brought to you by a Bill Lawrence L450 and on the neck a Maton single-coil. To make it versi I added a piezo to it. It has passive electrics (I think) and I might add a Roland GK3 (feedback please).
The body is made from Bunya and the neck: Qld maple. It is wine red and is a kind of offset singlecut. I've added a Josh Homme style Badass Tune-O-matic (chanse your bridge too if you want better sustain). I also fitted Schaller locking tuners because I literally beat the hell out of it.
The neck width was chosen by me so it is thin all the way (not like a Jaguar though). I got a case with it to witch is cool.

This Maton sounds so good for QOTSA stuff. whatever amp you use it will soynd good. Style-wise it is stoner/garage rock.
The best settings on my amp for this guitar are treble-6, mid-9 and bass-4. The amps and effects I use in order are:
Boss TU-12, Boss SD-1, Big Muff Micro-Synth and a Line 6 delay moddeler thing into a Laney Linebacker and Ampeg VT22.
It will be noisy on the coil-tap if your a budding Joe Perry or Eric Clapton i.e. Everything=10 so just don't alright?
The sound is very bright and bouncy and play the right thing and you'll want to join in. because of the coil-tap and piezo even the people at Maton think this os versitile. i do dislike one thing tough about this guitar... People waqnt to play it!

The action is superb even a beginner of the age of 6 would find it easy to play. The p/u's sounded great even over a broken phone! there was nothing wrong with the bridge and could people please stop bollocking me about the finish it's meant to be like a relic series guitar.

This guitar is the most reliable thing ever end of comment.

Maton really helped me with getting this guitar as did Jesse Hughes of EODM. The warranty lasts for 1 year.

It's simply the best! I think it's better my Bro's Gibbo Les Paul

This guitar was made in 2004 in the melbourne factory, i had it made just for me. it has 21 frets, it is a solid top, it only has one tone and one volume, but the more expencive models have a tone and a volume for each pickup. the neck pickup is a single coil (even though heaps of people think its a humbucker, they should read the web site)and th brige is a humbucker with a coil tap. the wood on the body is queensland maple and the fretboard is rosewood. it has a tune o matic bridge. the tuners are grover vintige. the neck is kind of like a les pauls, and it ses it has jumbo frets but they seem more like medium sized ones to me. it came with nothing.

I think this guitar sounds great for all styles, blus, rock and especialy jazz. i am using a ashton 100watt stack with it, and mainly just reverb and distortion and somtimes wah. it obviosly hums a bit when its on single coil, but on humbucker its very quiet.

the guitar was set up beutiffuly in the factory.

johnny

on a tuesday mourning

it is really good because johnny

2002-2003 model.
21 Frets.
Twin Humbuckers.
Silkwood body.
Vintage Style tuners.
No Bag or case included.

The sound of this guitar is poor. The pick-ups have no life in them, it is a very deep and bassy sound. I dont mind the neck pick-up for clean music but other than that the sound doesn't suit any of my styles (blues, rock, emo-rock, industrial). I have perservered with this guitar due to a lack of wealth and the playability of it. I play it through a tonemaster head and a tonemaster 4x12 and have played it through other top notch tube amps, it still sounds bad.

The guitar played well from the factory. The action was and still is low. It had 10s on it when I bought it, I changed to 9s and played with them for a while but now I use 11-52s to improve the tone (which still kinda sux). The finish is faultless and the guitar still looks a treat.

The guitar is reliable and never goes out of tune, but it breaks strings. It used to break strings every rehearsal or gig. Maton replaced the bridge and this seems to have rectified the problem, but I haven't gigged or played too hard on it since. I wouldn't gig without a backup because of string breakage.

The company fixed the guitar promptly and were sorry about the string breakages, they refunded some string as well.

I have been playing for eight years and have amassed a small collection of equipment. I have a Japanese Squier (my very first guitar). A $50 washburn Tour 24 (which totally outclasses the Maton). A 1972 Maton Southern Star Acoustic (beautiful guitar, a perfect 10 all round). A 1972 Martin 000-18. A Fender Tonemaster head and quad. A Marshall JCM 900 head. Line6 Pod 2. Crate G120C XL.
I wish I had played the guitar more and not relied on the magazine review that I read. I wouldnt replace this guitar if it was lost or stolen, yet I dont like selling stuff so I keep it anyway.
Basically I think the guitar is a cool looking unit that plays beautifully but sounds terrible. A pick-up replacement is on the cards.

Ok so how many features can a guitar have. This one has 2 pickups, the neck being a big woolly sounding single coil and the bridge is a splittable humbucker with a nasty flat lifeless tone. It has a 3 way selector, a switch for splitting the bridge pickup, a volume pot and a totally pointless "tone" control. I say pointless because the pickups are SOOO muddy and toneless there is no point rolling anymore treble out of the signal.

I bought it new from a shop that it was impossible to turn the amp up and really listen to the tone so i really did'nt find out how bad it was till i got it home. The guitar played ok and i knew i could set it up to play Great so no probs there. The pickups are the WORST i have ever heard and being a live sound engineer i have heard some shockers but these are the pinnacle of bad tone. Dull, lifeless, inarticulate mud is the only sound these a capable of..oh and also microphonic squealing. I rang the shop and they said contact the Maton factory which i did. They told me they were aware of the poor tone quality and to bring it in so they could change a pot to brighten them up. Marginal improvement. Still muddy though. So all in all its the worst sounding guitar i have ever played.

Reasonably playable out of the box but still required some setting up to suit me which is to be expected with any guitar. The only problem i found that i could not resolve was tuning instability. It just would never stay in tune for more than about 10minutes playing and i put it down to the vintage style machine heads as everything else checked out fine. The finish was superb and the grain of the wood was beautiful as was the translucent burgundy paint btu there is no point having a nice looking guitar that sounds like shit and wont stay in tune.

Yes this guitar would stand up to hard playing night after night but would need a lot of money spent on stable machine heads and good pickups to make it an acceptable guitar. There are much better options out there for less money that deliver the goods without the hassles

They tried to be helpfull but never solved the problems that quite frankly should not have existed in the first place. Admitting they new the pickups were substandard but still selling it without remedying the problem is just not right

I have owned a few guitars over the years. Various price ranges and varying quality but have never been disapinted with any before this one. They have a generally good reputation but if they continue to make instruments that sound this bad and wont stay in tune then their rep will suffer. I am asked at gigs all the time what i think of various products and as far as my dealing with Maton products go (I also have a very ordinary Maton acoustic) i have very little good to say. Best and worst advertising is quite often word of mouth. I have recently sold the mastersound in complete disgust. Buyer beware.

yr 2000 model, australian made. volume, tone, 3-way switch, split switch for bridge pickup. neck p-90 style single coil (fat and warm), bridge humbucker (weak, especially in split mode). silkwood body. unique retro styling/shape. tune-o-matic bridge, vintage tuners (slip out of tune CONSTANTLY, hard to to find replacements). well finished maple neck, rosewood fingerboard, 21 XJ frets, short scale (24.5"), narrow 1 5/8" nut, good for smaller hands, feels great. no accessories.

excellent for jazz (nice warm neck p-90), ok for rock, but bridge pickup is weak and scratchy, and hard to replace because theyre in weird covers.
i use it thru a peavey transformer amp, which probably does it a lot of favours.
aside from wiring problems (explained later): neck pickup: 9, bridge pickup: 6

excellent action, brilliant neck - definitely the best thing about it. finish is average. mine is a custom "silver spectro" finish - dont bother, its not worth the $200AUD extra. about a two years after i bought it, i noticed buzzing coming out of both pickups - the windings had come loose - cost me an absolute BOMB to get them rewound as it wasnt covered by the warranty. the pickup selector and tone pot now crackle when used (i think they may have left the guitar open while the pickups were rewound, and the contacts got dusty)

electronics problems, average finish. probably not too durable. it is now a backup guitar to a godin flat 5.

company is ok, but expensive (was $300AUD to get pickups rewound - still not convinced it was worth it as it was only $1400AUD to start with). and they stuffed up the pickup selector and tone pots. 2 yr warranty.

have been playing 11 yrs, also own handmade jim williams classical guitar, godin flat 5, peavey transformer 112 modelling amp, 1970s yamaha 12-string acoustic guitar.
i wish i had asked more about the pickups and the warranty.
if it were stolen or lost... i dunno. its not bad. the neck is fantastic, but the electronics problems have made me a bit sceptical.

2003. Probably one of the first to come out of the new factory in Box Hill.
22 Frets
Qld Maple solid body, 1 volume, 1 tone, 2 pickup selector and bridge humbucking switch.
Tobacco sunburst body.

I needed a guitar that could rock out as well as produce fat jazz tones. This guitar does it really well. It has a full rich tone even across all pickup combinations. The bridge pickup in single coil mode is still lovely and rich without the harshness the you come to expect.
The pickups are quite hot and are on par with the seynour duncans and dimarzios. There is not fret buzz and it does not have that annoying mid frequency ringing that some electrics have, especially with maple bodies.

0.10's came standard and I haven't made my mind up yet as to well to go down to 0.9's. Originally I though the pickups were adjusted strangely (the neck was seated quite low and the bridge was set higher especially against the bottom E-A-D strings). I set them back but after a couple of days I eventually put them back to the original.
The neck is fantastic. It is a bolt on but rock solid and will take quite a lot of abuse until the tune suffers. Action is low and lovely.
The finish is wonderful. I love the tobacco sunburst.

Quite a heavy guitar for it size. Can't see any dramas although with an angled headstock it suffers from the same problems as any les paul.

Great....they are local too.

This guitar is a keepers. It has a lovely full rich sound that rivals any pro instrument. Because of the range of pickup combinations you can coax big fat les paul/marshall sounds, cool fat cat jazz tones and trebly vintage ric sounds too.

The features of this guitar are documented quite well on the Maton website, www.maton.com.au.

It does not come with anything stock standard, IE: A case. But these are not the "features" I look for when I go to purchase a guitar, hence score of 10. The humbucker/coil tap is what I judge as useful featured unmatched by any guitar in the price match.

My maton would have been a year 2000 model, I'm guessing because the "plug in" point is at the base of the model, some of the earlier models have them coming out of the "front" of the guitar near the volume switches.

This guitar suits my musical style very well... and I'm sure it could suit many others. I believe that the sound you get out of this guitar is very much based on the amp you run it through. For example: John Toogood of band Shihad/Pacifier runs this through a Mesa Boogie amp to get that real raw rock tone. I run mine through a Laney TT20, and I can get quite a sweet tone. I've run it through an Orange AD30 (which is comparable to a Vox AC30, used by such like the Beatles, etc.) And I find I can get a really nice tone out of this guitar.

I play mainly rock or slower sounds. I love bands like Radiohead, Jeff Buckley - that telecaster type sound which this guitar can reproduce with the "middle" setting, two single coils and flat volume with a little gain. But that said I also enjoy bands like Tool or NIN and can get that chunky type Les Paul sound. Of course for real distortion or thrash one must use an effects pedal.

The sound is rich and full. You can control this with the coil tap (a switch which allows you to make the bridge pickup (the rhythym pickup) act like a humbucker(more sound) or a single coil(thinner sound)). It can quite easily be bright amp allowing.

My guitar makes no noise - unless of course the gain is right up, I'm standing next to the amp and I'm in humbucker mode. A Les Paul will generate more electricity and will probably be able to squeal a tiny bit more. Who cares I say, that's why we have pedals :)

Well... look... the guitar was set up very well by Maton, but whenever you buy a guitar, always take it down to the local luthier and get it set up. It's worth your time.

I set the action lower, I adjusted the pickup heights and adjusted the truss rod. It plays nicer than before, that's certain - but the fact is no guitar plays that nicely with "factory settings" it's somewhat common sense here - the basic settings are made to please everyone.

On a side note, I give the guitar a 9 because I noticed that some of the screws are rusting a little and that because of my rough treatment the pickup selector moves too far. Minor issues. All guitars rust. Most worse than mine. And I can replace the screws in the future for marginal cost. Note that these screws are the ones holding the pick guard on nothing to do with the hardware or pickups which are gleaming silver hehehe.

As for the fit and finish, it's great for what you pay for. It's really well done and outshines some expensive guitars! If you want pearl inlays and a really nice looking guitar however, you should buy a 520, 520S, 524 or 526 Deluxe. I would hehe.

It sure will last. It will not stop working.

The strap buttons are very good and eliminate the need for straplocks if you are a sensible player.

I wouldn't use this on a gig without a backup, but I wouldn't use ANY guitar on a gig without a backup.

I've only heard good things about maton. I can't comment too much here because the guitar is working flawlessly.

You know, in the last few weeks I've been thinking about getting a new guitar... I wanted to get a Fender Telecaster, or Perhaps a Gibson 335. But the more I think of it, the more I realise how happy I am with my Maton and how satisfied I am with it.

A good friend of mine has a Brilliant Fender Tele Deluxe and he finds himself using the Maton more often himself.

This guitar is the first I have ever bought. But the amount of time and research I did before I bought it was phenominal. At the time of my starting I was really into buying a Les Paul. But they're expensive let's face it and they're not REALLY flexible between genres. Then I thought I wanted a Strat. Or a Tele. Finally, after playing the Maton and hearing the amount of tone and quality of the guitar I decided to buy it.

If this guitar was stolen or lost, I would be devastated hehe. But I would save up my money and I would buy a Maton Mastersound 520S Deluxe (the pretty model) - I would buy a pretty model, because I am so sure this is the guitar for me and I'm so sure this guitar will last me for many years - why not have a good looking one?

In fact my only regret with buying this guitar was that I did not get a "pretty" one. hehe. How much of a moron must I sound like for saying that? :)

Seriously though my Natural Finish Mastersound is a beautiful guitar. I'm probably only saying this because deep down inside me is a greedy guitar collecting gene and it's dying to break out.

My MS500 is great. And I reccomend it or it's pretty brothers to anyone who's starting out like I was, or needs some real tone.

Silkwood body, Qld maple neck. 21 frets. Unique styling. Body shape looks ab bit like a Peavey Wolfgand/music man axis morphing into a strat.
21 frets (Doh!)

Has a good sound which is quite full. It's good for covering a variety of tones. As a result it doesn't really sound like any other guitar. It's bassier than a strat, yet brighter than a LP. Overall the sound is quite deep. The neck pickup although s/coil, sounds almost like a humbucker, and is tops for jazz styles. I've found that due to its bassier sound, it harmonises really well with strats. Think alto harmonising with soprano, or a viola harmonising with a violin. For playing funk (which I do a lot), I would prefer a strat.

Great setup and action. The finish looks nice, but I've found that it dents really easily. This is a bit of a shame, because I've been treating it rather carefully. The wood is quite heavy, but I guess it's pretty soft too.

As above, this guitar dents really easily. The strap buttons are awesome though.

Never dealt with them directly, but check out the maton website. There is a BBS on it where actual maton reps answer all your questions. How awesome is that!?

Great guitar, and is good at being a workhorse. I could play a variety of styles with this guitar, and it covers a wide range in the audioscape. The build quality of this instrument is superb. Just wish it had an extra fret, but when you consider it's deeper sound, you probably wouldn't use it for styles which require hitting that high "D" (22nd) note. Would probably buy a strat for the more trebly stuff.

2001 Maton Mastersound MS500.
21 frets. Same features as all the other reviews.
Absolutely gorgeous transparant burgundy colour. Nice woodgrain etc.
Would be nice to have a tremolo bridge, but this bridge is still awesome. Hardly ever goes out of tune!!. Frets are a little close together, sometimes a good thing, sometimes not... depends what I'm playing. So cool to have a coil tap on the humbucker.

Unbelievable variety with this guitar. Can go from an early les paul sorta sound to a bright strat/tele like sound. Sounds heaps better than my previous fender and pacifica (that's not saying too much though). Top marks for the clean sound alone. Distorts nicely with the right pedals.

Found it a bit hard to get used to at first. I was going from a 40mm neck and 9-42 strings on my previous guitar, to this 10-46 43mm neck. Have to clamp down a bit harder when playing chords. Also due to the frets being a bit shorter than my previous guitar. Great setup though. Couldn't find any problems with it. Changed the strings to DR's and OhmyGod it sounded tops.

No problems with it yet. Looks as though I'll be handing this down a few generations to come. Could use this thing as a cricket bat.

Never dealt with them, but heard good things.

Easily my favourite guitar. I still have my pacifica, which is also good, and I'll be keeping this for the rest of my life. Was thinking of getting an Epiphone Les Paul, but this was cheaper and better sounding. And it's a Maton.. 'nuff said.

This is a 2001 Maton Mastsound, made in Australia. 21 Frets, because it has a short scale length and a fairly thin, although grippable neck. It has this kool three way rotary pickup selector, with the pick-ups being single coil in the ncek position and coil splittable humbucker in the bridge position. There is also a single tone and volume knob. The pickups were hand wound for Maton and i believe although i believe the higher models use seymour duncans. The body shape is unique, although very nice looking, a cross between a strat and a tele...that's as close a description as i can get. It has a tune-o matic bridge, with a graphite nut and kluson tuners. The frets are jumbo and the scale length is 24 1/2 inches.

I play rock and punk and i can get the range of the sounds that i need and more. It can also imitate the Tool sort of sound and certain Metallica songs. I was only running it through my Orange 15 watt amp, but even through that the humbuckers soound awesome and the single coil is almost as humfree as the humbuckers. The sound is more on the bassy side, with the tone knob allowing a wide range of sounds. There is one thing, possibly because of the way that the pickups are mounted and that is that at high volumes the guitar seems to echo a bit and it isn't the amp because when run through my friends Mg100 head, it sounded the same.

This guitar was set up almost perfect. The action was a bit high and the pickups a bit low, but that is all personal preference. The nut was cut a bit funny though, with the g string giving a ringing noise when struck open, but no grief with the saddle. It was filed down perfectly.

This guitar would probably withstand a live gig, although i haven't played with it live yet. It seems to stand up to home usage very well, hardware is well finished, and the finish looks like it'll only come off if it is scraped. The strap buttons are very big, no chance of the strap falling off here. I would gig without a back up, but that's only because i have no other guitars.

haven't dealt with them...heard good things though

If i were to lose this guitar i would certainly buy another one. It is an excellent guitar, although the echo that is heard at loud volumes is annoying. I believe it is caused by the pickups being set into the pickguard so maybe a block of wood behind the pickguard could help (?)

i bought this guitar in march 2002.. FAR OUT.. the guitar is tops aye.. the features it has is enough for anyone i think..

the guitar sounds great.. i play basic rock and a little hard rock and itsounds full and thick.. not quite like a les paul or a gothic but it has no hick ups.i got no effects with the guiatr but i just give it some distortion and let the riffs flow!!!

the finish of this guitar is excellent. the colour that ui have is really good . its a burgandy colour with the cream scratch guard. it was set up decently from the factory but the pickups could be a little better..

EXCELLENT... no faults at all.. it'd take a semi trailer to break this axe

never had to feal with the company .. only when i bought it which was right there on the spot..

great guitar.. i had to pay a little extra cause im left handed ($1300 AUS$) but its worth every penny!! sounds good.. looks great

Mine is a 2001 Tobacco sunburst MS500, as described by everyone else! I didn't need or want a whammy, but I did want some versatility wioth the pickups, so the split bridge pickup suited me down to the ground.

I would comment on the scale length: Compared to a Strat the Mastersound seems small, but once you play it you realise it's actually just the right size.

Also... the oft demeaned pickup selector... it looks like something off your grannie's toaster, or a cheap prop from an early Star Trek episode... but it works. Remember the first time you used a Strat and had to teach your little finger to find the switch? Pick up a Mastersound and reach for the pickup selector and it's exactly where you want it.

If you're looking for more info on the Mastersound I've put a website on my SomethingAbout.net webserver. There's all sorts of musical stuff there that may be of interest.

I'd put the sound down as a cross between a Tele and an old P90 Les Paul or LP Junior, but not exactly like either.

I play anything that takes my fancy... Eagles to Deep Purple... Bryan Adams to Alice Cooper... Bachelor Girl to Bread.

Two faults were apparent.... the volume knob sits a bit crooked, and there was a ding in the neck that was probably done in the shop pre-sale. I'd finally decided to buy a Mastersound and then discovered I'd have to wait 5 weeks, so I bought the first one I was able to find.

Solid as a rock and very very well made. The best guitar I'd had before this was an Ovation Breadwinner, and the Maton is easily as good.

I bought the guitar from Matt at Allan's Music in Adelaide. He found this one in their Melbourne store and had it sent over. When it arrived he pointed out the ding in the neck straight away and offered to loan me this one until a new one arrived 5 weeks down the track. Once I had the guitar home and played it I decided to keep it so he organised a warranty repair thru Fretco here in Adelaide. When it came back we couldn't find the ding!

I'm 44 and I've been playing since I was 15. I might not be that good but I've seen a lot of guitars, owned a lot of guitars, and met a lot of guitar salespeople! I wanted a good quality versatile guitar that wouldn't break the bank. List price on a MiM Strat was AUD$1200... List price on a Mastersound was AUD$1099. I wanted to buy the guitar from my usual guitar shop, GuitarWorks (http://www.guitarworkssa.com) but because of their dealer setup I had to look elsewhere. Allan's cop a lot of flak here for being a bit of a supermarket for beginners, but I couldn't fault them.

Being an Aussie I'd always wanted a Maton, and I'm pleased as punch that I now have one. If I was looking for another guitar I might buy a MiM Strat which was my original choice until I played a Maton and thought about where my dollars were going. Then again I like the look of the MS526 Maton Mastersound, so maybe I'd buy one of those instead.

Its a 2000 ms500.. natural finish, white pickguard (soon to be black).
right from the shop i ripped out the standard single coil, and put the humbucker at the neck, then put a duncan JB at the bridge.. wasnt enough, ive recently put an invader in the neck. good choice... other than that, its standard, being older it has the smaller fretwire, doesnt matter though, means i can fret harder. good guitar.. but dont like the pickguard.. makes the guitar sound echoey, i can hear it through the amp if i turn it up loud enough.

Like i said.. the pickguard annoys me.. im considering screwing a block of wood to the back of it, ANYTHING would be good... running it through a marshall bass state 65, it sounds better than my plywood guitar sustain wise.. and the tone is good.. but i bought this guitar because it plays well.

its SO great.. i bought it, whacked some d addario 46-10s on it, and tuned it to d, and the intonation was perfect. i couldnt be happier. the machine heads annoyed me, they look kind of cheap and crappy, so i replaced them with some gotohs, not that the stockies were hard to turn or anything, they did the job, i just didnt like the look of them, plastic things make me paranoid. the stock knobs went too, i prefer metal hardware. but overall, its great. the bridge and saddle rock, theyre super easy to work with, and the maton guys set the neck up perfectly. the actions nice and low, too,

This thing is built well. i reckon itd be hard to smash, it looks pretty damned solid. the hardwares replaced, itll last forever.. the finsh wont come off, its clear varnish, applied rather thickly. The strap buttons are pretty big, i dont think the strap could fall off very easily.. its dependable, though.. the pots are a little scratchy already but ive played brand new 3000 dollar strats and theyve been scratchy.. i put 50 dollar push pull pots in my other guitar and THEYRE scratchy.. if i was going to do a volume swell id use a pedal.. so no matter.. but the electrics etc are all great, its never dropped out.. and as other people have said, its pretty quiet.. a backup guitar? well i have a couple.. dont think either would fail me.

this guitar is great... its cheaper than a paul or a strat, and its better to play... than a strat anyway.. the pauls are heavier, generally, and probably sound better.. but these guitars are in a league of their own. Worth the money indeed, theyre hand made in australia, not mass prduced in a factory in korea. they can be yours for less than a grand australian.. so why not? if someone stole it, id be majorly pissed.. id only spend my money if i really liked what i was looking at... its solid, fast to play, looks cool, is cheap.. my only criticism is the pickups are mounted to a pickguard, instead of in a routed out hole in the body... but for the price.. who cares.

2000 model purchased from Rockhampton new.
Silkwood body Qld maple neck rosewood board.
Body black, pickguard white. jumbo frets.
This is the Standars MS 500 Mastersound

I play all styles of music except real heavy. This guitar is suited to solo stuff not rythym. The sound, well I have to say that I am dissapointed. This guitar whatever anyone else say's does not suit all musical styles.
The pickups are warm, too warm almost muddy. The only way I can get antwhere near a clean sound is by using a pod.
My previous guitar to the ms500 is a Samick tele copy. This guitar is much sweeter sounding. To the people who say they can get Tele/strat sounds from this guitar, I would ask please show me how, cause to hell if I can.

The Guitar is well made and factory setup was good. I did however change to a lighter gauge of string 10-46. The ms500 came with 12 gauge

I play solo and use midi files where I mostly play rythym. It is not too well suited for this. I will still use my Tele copy most of the time.

I have had several emails with the Cheif Luthier, but each time the replies are vague to say the least. They will exchange the pickups but as usual at a cost.

I have been playing for over 32 years.
I should have gone into a sound booth and given it a proper test.
I bought it mostly from reviews.
I would not buy this guitar again at least not with the standard pickups.
The guitar except for the sound is great to play. It fits like a glove. It is well made and looks great

First off I would like to note that I think I'm probably the only guy in America that owns one of these. If there are any other American Maton owners contact me.This guitar features two Maton pickups. The neck is a single coil, and the bridge is a humbucker that has a coil tap. One volume, and one tone knob. My guitar is a natural finish, that is just beautiful. The wood is bunya pine which is a very warm sounding wood. The scale of the guitar is a little shorter than a standard Gibson scale. In my opinion this is a very easy guitar to play, and I haved owned at least forty guitars in my twenty years of playing, including Strats, Teles, and Gibson style guitars. The neck on the Maton is very comfortable, not too thin, and not too thick. I wouldn't consider this a shredders guitar, but liken it more toward a vintage feel, but not as clubby. The bridge is a very hefty tune-o-matic style, with a stop tailpiece. The tuners, look a lot like vintage klusons. Now for they coolest feature on the Maton, which happens to be a Maton tradition. The pickup selector switch! It looks like a mini gearshift, of perhaps a vintage tube radio switch. I thought maybe this was a try at a retro look when I got the guitar, but since then I have aquired two 60's Maton Semi Hollow body guitars (a supreme 240, and a supreme 770) and they both have the same style pickup selector switch. Too cool.

Now here is where the guitar really shines. I play ALL styles of music, but heavy music is my forte. The Maton has a big bad deep warm tone. I can conjure up Strat, and Les Paul style tones outta the Maton. Granted the guitar doesn't sound exactly like the two aforementioned guitars, but does a great job working in those ranges. The cleans tones are to die for, from a good snappy twang to a warm jazzy smooth feel. This guitar has it. Now here is where most guitars lose my very rigourous test....the gain test. I'm not talking about overdrive, and I'm not talking about Marshall type gain. I'm talking about rip your face off Dual rectifier on steroids type gain. Now most of us know that if a pickup sucks, or is on it's last poorly potted legs, it will feedback like a banshee when pushed with a lot of gain. The Maton I must say, doesn't budge, Turn it up to eleven, and stand next to your amp...nada, nope ain't gonna do it. All the Maton has is love. It thrives in a high gain situation, and sounds HUGE. I know a lot of people on this board have different opinions of what a guitar should sound like, and I'm no different. One thing I think most people would agree on, and that is versatility. I have been in a touring band
for eight years, and one thing you don't want to do is bring five guitars on the road, (or any gig really, unless your some sort of "hey look at me!! I got a lot of really neato guitars!!" type person) One main versatile guitar, and one good back up should suffice. This is why the Maton really shines. Very vesatile in ANY musical forum.

Ok my praise continues. I had to drive 125 miles one way to pick my guitar up at the state customs office. When I did get the guitar out to my car, and pulled it out of the box I gave it a strum... and what came next shocked me to all get out. The guitar was ALMOST perfectly in TUNE!! So what you might ask? Here is why this is a big deal. Take any standard guitar (tune it before hand) out into you car on a winters day. Drive to your buddies house and take the guitar inside. Let the guitar sit for...umm let's say twenty minutes. Now pick it up and slam a nice Pete Townshend power chord. Here that nasty dischordant sound? Your guitar is out of tune. As a general rule of thumb, the less attention to fit and finish, and hardware directly relate to a guitar's stability. Now after my long winded tangent. My Maton MS500 had just flown ALL the way from Australia in a Jet, excuse me in the STORAGE area of a jet, facing extreme changes is climate, and pressure, AND it was damn near in TUNE!!! Stability factor 5! Ok point made. Now the finish is just amazing, the wood is b.a.eutiful! The intonation was perfect. The only thing I did was raise the action a bit. I play with 10-52 gauge, and the guitar was set up with a standard ten set, so that is a standard practice with all of my guitars. The guitar handles the bigger gauge wonderfully. All in all a top notch set up job at the factory.

This guitar is so well built you could use it as a weapon, Mark Mcgwire could bat with thing, and it would be fine. The hardware is top not, and it feels solid. The finish should be able to handle a lot of sweat. Which(as most gigging musicians can attest to) is what will kill your guitar ie; rusted hardware, electronic problems et al.

Ok now for my bitching session. Why would ANYONE gig without a backup, unless you don't own a back up? If you play out at ALL you should have a backup. Preferable a good backup. There are way too many variables in playing live. Breakings strings, damaged hardware, or electronic problems, and so on, so forth, forever and ever amen. No one wants to wait for a guitarist to restring in mid set. Not only that but it's unprofessional. If you want to be really safe, you should gig with a backup amp too, especially if you play through a tube amp.

Neville Kitchen, and Bradley Clark are top notch guys. They were VERY helpful to me, answered all of my questions promptly, and went out of their way to make sure I was happy. Maton Guitars are Australia's oldest guitar maker. They have been around since 1946. So, i'm not afraid that they are a fly by night maker that won't around next year. They also make WONDERFUL acoustic guitars that hold there own against Taylor, Martin, Larivee. I own a EM300 acoustic that is just great!

I have been playing for twenty years, and have toured all over the country, and if there is one thing I have learned, good gear is good gear, and crap is crap. A guitar is a tool, if you are trying to do a job and you don't have good tools, it makes your job that much tougher. I understand what it's like to try and play music on a budget. Believe me if your in music to make money, become a plumber. What I'm getting at is, when making a decision to buy a guitar, do yourself a favor and do a lot of research. Play a lot of different guitars, and try to try out each guitar through your own gear. If this isn't possible, try and find gear at the store that is as close to your set up as possible. The guitar you try through a Marshall JCM900, and a 4X12 isn't going to sound the same through a crate 1x12 solid state combo.

All in all the Maton is a wonderful instrument, and a fantastic bargain. Very well built, and a dream to play. Check out their website, (www.maton.com.au) and email them for more info. You won't be disappointed.

Features as described in earlier reviews. Mine uses Silkwood: (Flindersia brayleyana) (also known as Queensland Maple)- natural..has a nice brown with white pickguard (much better than black). I changed the cheapo plastic volume/tone knob to stainless steel "telecaster style" knob - beautiful! I like the mini-arm selector switch .. very unique. Wish I could change the pickup splitter switch - so urgly and inefficient. Neck is bolted on, head stock is jointed to the neck by a groove and glued tight..I think? Don't understand why they do that.

The sound seems to lack the highs, overall on the low side for all pickup combinations with little sustain from the wood. It came with probably a .12 string guage & 3rd wound..why? Switch it to .10 - much better. The pickups are alright nothing worth mentioning. I play it through a Tubescreamer into a Fender blackface Twin Reverb - you can get a nice warm low tone. Quite smooth. You cannot get a Fender or a Gibson tone from this axe. It has it's own sound and if you like the lows .. this is alright. Frequency range is narrow in my view - maybe it's the wood. Really nothing outstanding about the sound.

Had to adjust the action, it was too high for my liking. Good workmanship overall. Very clean and neat construction. Finish is good.

Still new - no problem.

Sent Maton a question through their web site. NO REPLY!

Wanted a piece of Australia. Bought it while visiting the country. Nice to look at but I won't buy it again if I lose it.

Australian Made (Naturally), Bought in Jan 1999 (first in Adelaide as far as I know), Natural finish, 21 Frets, short scale neck (24.5 in), Two pickups made by Maton (I think) with 5 way selection via 3 position pickup selector and humbucker coil splitter (Single coil neck pickup, Splittable bridge humbucker. Selection therefore = neck, neck and bridge, neck and bridge(split), bridge, bridge(split). Not sure what wood mine is made of. I contacted Maton and they said that they use sveral woods for these guitars. Stop tailpiece (Sorry shredders, no whammy). Non-locking tuners.

Everything I could ever use and want. But probably not perfect for everyone (Metalheads don't seem to like it)

I ran it head to head with my girlfriends Fender Strat Plus Delux (with lace sensor pickups etc.) and they are very different beasts indeed. The Strat has a much brighter top end and I found it a bit harder to get the sound I wanted on the strat (too much in the top end, though I can't fault it's playability). The Maton is alot warmer and has a nice full sound with a unique quality that is hard to describe (maybe I just haven't played enough guitars). I have small hands and the short scale of the Maton (shorter than a Les Paul) suits me perfectly and I dont have any trouble switching between this and the 25.5 in Strat. I use a Crate soilidstate 160W 2x12 combo (With a sealed extension cab built by a friend housing 2 12in lorantz drivers - fantastic box, I rarely use the Celestions in the combo these days) with a swag of Boss effects (Fuzz, Blues Driver, Super Overdrive, and Chorus), a Danelectro Delay and a Cry Baby Wah. Even with the solidstate amp I never have troble geting a nice warm overdrive or just a hint of breakup on the clean tone - This guitar sounds fantastic doing everything I wnat it to do. I play original bluesy sorta guitar pop with a hint of Stevie Ray and a touch of Counting Crows and I've never found the sound lacking. By winding up the amp distortion, I can even rip away at the few heavy metal riffs that I know - no problems.

The guitar came from the dealer fitted with 0.010 strings which I immediately sent to the circular file and replaced with jazz/rock 0.011s. This pulled the action up a touch and was perfect. I was give two free services by the store that sold me the guitar (great blokes) and I haven't used either of them in two years. Come to think of it, I haven't done anything to this guitar in the last 2 years (pickups are in the same place as when I got the guitar, no wiring faults etc.) but change the strings alot (I've never broken one, I just sweat alot when I play). I've never even needed to adjust the intonation. Truly a superb purchase.

The only fault it has is that there is a small gap above the neck joint (when viewed from a playing position). This has not caused problems thus far, but who knows what it will be like in the long run, although I can't see it being a problem.

I think that the main problem that metal players must have with this guitar is in the lack of top fret acces (doesn't trouble me - I only solo under duress) and the lovely thick batt-like neck (no paddle-pop thick shredders necks here), which I also love. Either that, or they don't like the way it looks - If so, I must disagree, originality is to be commended and this is a beautifull instrument.

I bought this guitar so that I could retire my previous guitar from live playing (an entry-level Legend strat copy which I retro-fitted with a DiMarzio Super Distrtion bride humbucker). I love my old guitar but it just couldn't take the hot lights, lugging and sweat that I was subjecting it too. At first I still took it along as a backup for the Maton but after a few gigs I stopped. The Maton stays in tune and even though I have a fairly rough strumming hand, I've never broken a string (wether this is because of the thick gauge strings or well finished bridge/nut/etc., I don't know). Maybe I'm naive, but yes, I gigged regularly without a backup guitar and it has never been a problem.

Finish is great, I don't think that I have even managed to scratch it yet.

I used to require aftermarket straplocks on the strat copy (it kept on falling off, maybe due to the swamp ash body - it's a damn heavy guitar) but again, this was not a problem for the Maton.

I emailed Maton about the typ of wood it was constructed from. The reply was prompt and courteous.

The guys at Holden Hill music were also very usefull. I'll probably buy my acoustic from there.

I've been playing about seven years and gigged regularly untill recently (hope to start again soon). I love the sound, the looks and the way it feels to play (what more do you want). It's certainly my first choice when I reach for a guitar (but I do return to the strat copy fom time to time).

It won't suit everyone though (no whammy, 21 frets, chunky neck, unique styling) and, quite frankly, I'm glad of that because I like being a bit different from the strat/les paul brigade. If you're in the market for a guitar this is a high-end instrument (it holds its own against a strat plus delux that retailed for almost three times as much when they were still available) at a low end price, and is different enough (in sound and looks) to compliment almost any guitar in a collection.

If it was stolen, I would wish that I had it insured because I would certainly buy another one (maybe tobacco sunburst this time). I'm soon going to buy an acoustic and you can bet your bottom dollar that it will be a Maton.

Well, this is a followup to the last one..
ok.. I was soo in love with this baby.. I changed the hardware..
put Schalller Security Locks on her, new machine heards, bridge, stop bar
now.. she was a looker before.. now.. man.. I'm drooling :)

Yeah.. I finally got a change to try the other models out.. well.. admittably.. the higher model had a glossed finished, binding.. but unfortunately, lacked the punch.. the power of this baby..
ah.. they say it's more.. a defined sound.. but.. personally, I find the cheapest model is the best.. hmmm...

ok.. there's one point.. maybe it was me doing an amateur job of fixing the new machine heads on.. but.. I find that the edge of the headstok.. had gloss slowly peeling off..
then again, I AM rough with my instruments..

still reliable.. this is a trusty workhorse..

They were great.. I've emailed them about componants.. assistance with my other matons.. and they were VERY quick in replying...
great business sense!!

What I found.. that with this.. I've lost my dream of getting a Les Paul.. I know.. I wouldn't mind one.. but this baby can do anything a LP can..
trying to get my hands on one of the Maton rockabilly style guitars they used to make..
but yeah..
I still reccomend this..
maybe slight superficial flaws.. but she plays like a dream!!!
A mate was thinking of getting the De Armond guitars.. but.. man.. I had a go on them.. and.. well... great guitars.. great pickups.. but.. nothing on the matons.. (although I'm getting some DeArmond humbuckers for my Gretsch)

A kick arse guitar!!! Australian made Maton guitars are usually well known for their acoustics (my opinion, beats any other acoustics hands down) and now, they don't dissapoint devotees with their electrics!!!
The model I have is a sunburst model. probably made in 1998. A reissue to the mastersounds they had in the 60's but apparently, this is very different soundwise. It was love at first sight.. ;) once I saw her, I HAD to play her, and once I did that, I had to buy!!
Uses the same machine heads, bridge and stop bar that the Gibsons use. (I've got a Les Paul here). And the neck, well, if I recall, my old strat had a slightly thinner neck, but this neck is thinner then a gibbo.. basically, it's thin enough to allow more manuverability on the neck.. demands your creativity!!!!
21 frets, and due to the thin body, easily reachable. flat top, bolt on neck, with a single coil for neck pickup and a split coil in the bridge. One volume and one tone knob. 3 way (cool, midway and hifi) selector switch (and a very COOL sitch/knob thingie) and a coil tapping switch. Stop bar bridge.. pickups are made by maton, and they've gotta be the quietest single coils ever.. hell, the guy at the store thought the single coil was a humbucker!!
Woods? I dunno, but maton usually use quality aussie woods.
Accessories: Who cares about getting accessories when you're getting one of the best guitars made!!!
The store offered a stand, gig bag and strap.. but as I already have these, I a few dollars knocked off the price.
My bad points on her are:
the headstock, VERY coolly angled, therefore making it difficult to just lean her against a wall or something and.. yeah, I always welcome a tremelo as having it there, gives you more versility.. but these are small points..

Well, I play a bit of pop/rock.. nothing too heavy, more a mellow
Sounds... VERY sexy!!!!
The sound is slightly less solid then a Les Paul, but if you wanted to, you can emmulate the sounds of a tele or a strat..
but according to responses, she sounds like a Ric or an early Les Paul..
but I find she's got her own sound.. and she sounds great!!!
With the pickup configuration and the split coil. There's almost nothing you can't do on this baby...
her single coil pickups are.. as silent as you can get.. and it's not as shril or thin. these are powerful pickups, very able to stand out amongst a PAF...
She's gotta be the best sounding electric I've heard..
I mean, I had a strat, I'll still use a Les Paul, cause nothing could sound like a Les Paul, but this guitar stands out on it's own...

This is one sexy guitar!!!
You just MUST see one to understand what I mean.. the sunubrst model
I heard about these guitars coming out.. but when I saw it in a shop, I HAD to play her.. she's gorgeous!!!
If she was a woman, she'd be Andrea Corr!!!

Definately withstands live playing. I've dropped her a few times and she still stands up. This is one solid guitar. Matons are the most underrated guitars and (don't tell them) they could charge more for them if wanted...
solid strap buttons.. metal and, damn well long lasting.. if you got a good strap, she won't fall off on ya..
And I'm really clumsy, therefore, I tend to get a lot of bumps and scratches.. but she looks like she'd last me :)
Nothing is really indestructable. I changed the machine heads as I tend to bump them into walls and stuff. Once I changed the heads.. I had to change the bridge and stopbar too.. :)
Small point but, she looks even sexier now!!
just don't do a Hendrix and sacrifice this baby.. that would hurt..

Absolutly brilliant!!!!
I contacted them on previous occasions regarding this guitar and previous, and have always got a response within a few days.
Got phoned by them, and got infomation sent in the mail.. great!!!
I also enquired about putting a bigsby on this baby, and they were helpful, making reccomendations on having it done in factory, and filling the pots and redoing the finish..
Really, she looks perfect as is, and maybe when I get another, I might get it custom made from Maton, so I don't have to harm this baby..
well, I can give a 10.. but that would need bribes ;> (hint hint Maton people.. free guitar hint.. hint)

I also have a Les Paul as I origianlly fell for Les Paul as my major inspiration, Neil Finn uses. And I mean, Gibsons are overpriced and.. I also have a Maton EBG808, a small bodied steel string acoustic (size of a nylon string). Oh, a lovely guitar!!
Use a Vox AC30 (what can I say, classic tone) and a couple of effects., A notable one is Emlyn Crowther's Hotcake overdrive.
And no, she came perfect!!! Nothing I had to do, besides change the strings. She comes with D'dadarios which are GOOD strings.. which I use on my acoustic, but for my electrics, I love DRs..
Honestly, there is almost nothing about her I hate. I mean.. no single coil is THAT silent.. and if you think she's lacking as she's not a set neck.. just you wait till you try her out..
Well, I would love to have a tremelo on her... but yeah, maybe the next mastersound..
well, why I chose this. I didn't intend getting a new guitar, but, this is one you HAVE to have..
I would reccomend EVERYONE to try this out. It's cheap to be.. affordable for the beginner, and it's also built like one costing twice, or three times it's price